Nimbus to enter rental DVD mart

Here is the Dominos Pizza way of renting out DVDs. All that movie buffs need to do now is dial a toll-free number and request for the DVDs they wish to watch.

The same will be delivered within 30 minutes from the time the request is made. Else, you can view the rental DVDs free of cost, courtesy Nimbus Communications.

Nimbus is foraying into the rental DVD market and plans to set up 125 DVD stores across 69 cities in India within a few months.

Chairman Harish Thawani said the company was yet to finalise the property for the stores at the chosen locations. However, the rollout would be announced soon, he added.

Nimbus will invest Rs 50-70 crore in the new business, assuming that the average investment per store will be Rs 50 lakh.

For India-headquartered Nimbus Communications with businesses in sports, television, motion pictures and digital content, the new venture is an obvious extension.

Both new and old movies will be available on rent for prices in the Rs 15-25 range, depending on when the movie was released.

However, it is not known whether the customer can also make a request over the internet, besides calling the toll-free number or the store number.

Nimbus is believed to have adopted the business model followed by Netflix, US-based online DVD rental portal, and Blockbuster, which operates in both the online DVD rental space and DVD retail.

Both operate in almost a similar pattern "� customers choose a subscription plan (over the internet) of between one and eight DVDs a month from a list of movies in the catalogue, and the same is shipped via mail.

And once the customer finishes viewing the movie, the DVDs in a pre-stamped envelope can be shipped back.

Both ways, the delivery is not charged.